Marcellus Vernon Wiley Sr. (born November 30, 1974) is an American sportscaster and former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

who played 10 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, making the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 2001. He currently hosts the ''More To It'' podcast, as part of the Dan Patrick Podcast Network. He formerly co-hosted '' SportsNation'' on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

, as well as an afternoon drive-time sports talk radio show on ESPN 710AM in Los Angeles, and

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

's '' Speak For Yourself''. Wiley also published a book ''Never Shut Up: The Life, Opinions, and Unexpected Adventures of an NFL Outlier'' in 2018.

Biography

Early life

Saint Monica Catholic High School Saint Monica Preparatory is a parochial, co-educational school in Santa Monica, California, consisting of students in grades kindergarten to grade 12. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and serves the parish of St. Mo ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, Wiley starred in both football and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. In football, he was an All-Conference pick. Wiley was a teammate of Adrian Klemm. He was his school's valedictorian and a member of the National Honor Society. In 1988, he was a national typewriting champion, with 82 words per minute.

College career

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, Wiley played tailback, defensive end, and kick returner for the Lions. Starting as running back his freshman and sophomore years, he converted to defensive end in his senior season, recording 63 tackles (17 for loss), 6.5 sacks, eight pass breakups and three blocked field goals. As a team captain, he helped lead the team to an 8-2 season, the Lions' most wins since 1945. Wiley was a first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

pick, and graduated from Columbia in 1997 with a degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Professional career

He was selected with the 52nd pick of the second round of the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

out of

by the Buffalo Bills. Wiley started his professional career primarily as a situational pass rusher, recording nine sacks through his first three years. In 2000, Wiley underwent disc-repair surgery, missing the preseason. However, when Hall-of-Famer

Bruce Smith Bruce Bernard Smith (born June 18, 1963) is an American former football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Virginia Tech, where he was ...

left for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, Wiley replaced him at defensive end for the Bills, making the opening day roster. He was selected to the AFC

team in 2001 as a Charger.

NFL statistics

Post NFL career

Wiley was a cofounder of Prolebrity (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's '' NFL Live'' and was a substitute co-host for ''

Mike and Mike in the Morning ''Mike & Mike'' (formerly ''Mike and Mike in the Morning'') was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN networks from 2000–2017. The show aired on ESPN Radio, and was simulcast on televi ...

''. He also co-hosted '' SportsNation''. Wiley co-hosted '' Winners Bracket'' with

Michelle Beadle Michelle Denise Beadle (born October 23, 1975) is an American sports reporter and host who is part of the San Antonio Spurs broadcast team. Beadle was formerly the co-host of the ESPN morning sports show '' Get Up!'' along with Jalen Rose and ...

from 2010 to 2012. Later, he co-hosted "Afternoons on ESPNLA with Marcellus Wiley and Travis Rogers" on ESPN LA. In January 2013, he became co-host of '' SportsNation'' on a full-time basis, taking over for Colin Cowherd. On July 13, 2018 Wiley left his position at ESPN and joined FS1 as co-host of '' Speak for Yourself'' alongside Jason Whitlock, when Whitlock's contract was not renewed by Fox Sports in June 2020, Emmanuel Acho replaced Whitlock and joined Wiley as the new co-host. In July 2022 Wiley left '' Speak For Yourself'' as it’s host, for another role at FS1. In 2018, Wiley's book ''Never Shut Up: The Life, Opinions, and Unexpected Adventures of an NFL Outsider'' was released. In 2022, Wiley began hosting the ''More To It'' podcast, as part of the Dan Patrick Podcast Network. His first guests were

Lil' Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

, and

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

. He is also hoping to start a new show on Fox in the future.

''Millionaire Matchmaker''

Wiley appeared on a November 2011 episode of Bravo's ''

Millionaire Matchmaker ''The Millionaire Matchmaker'' was an American reality television series on Bravo that premiered on January 22, 2008, and is hosted by Patti Stanger. ''The Millionaire Matchmaker'' follows Patti Stanger, owner of the Beverly Hills-based "Million ...

''. Season 5, Episode 12: "The Player and the Piano Player" ended when Wiley successfully found a romantic interest.

Personal life

Wiley has a daughter, Morocca Alise (born 1999), and a son, Marcellus Jr. (born 2015).

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiley, Marcellus 1974 births American Conference Pro Bowl players American football defensive ends American sports radio personalities ArenaBowl broadcasters Arena football announcers Buffalo Bills players Columbia Lions football players Columbia University alumni Dallas Cowboys players Fox Sports 1 people Jacksonville Jaguars players Living people National Football League announcers Radio personalities from Los Angeles San Diego Chargers players Sportspeople from Compton, California Players of American football from Compton, California